Collingdale’s two volunteer fire companies have agreed to merge, writes Pete Bannon for the Daily Times.

The fire companies now provide fire and ambulance service to Collingale and Aldan boroughs. The new company will be known as Collingdale Fire Co., Station 33. It will dispatch Jan. 1 out of the Clifton Avenue station and its service areas will remain the same.

The MacDade Boulevard station will be sold after the new company is settled in.

“We just started looking at it. Collingdale is 1-mile long. Why do we need two fire companies?” asked Dan Harold, president of Collingdale Fire Co. No. 1. “If we combined think of how much stronger we could be.”

The consolidation is an adaptation to help cope with volunteer shortages.  Crews from both companies have been cross-training for years in anticipation of a merger.

It will result in faster response times, more highly trained volunteers and the ability to purchase the most up-to-date equipment.

The new company will receive a $329,395 federal grant to help with the transition.

In the past 20 years there have been five fire companies created in the county from mergers of smaller companies.

Read more about the Collingdale Fire Company merger here.

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